49ers earn playoff bye with 34-27 win over Rams

Not accustomed to this playoff stuff, the 49ers got so excited about clinching a first-round postseason bye that they exhaled about 15 minutes too early Sunday.

The 49ers didn’t pay the ultimate price for taking their foot off the throat of the lowly Rams, instead escaping with a 34-27 victory at the Edward Jones Dome. But San Francisco’s fourth-quarter performance did put a serious damper on the mood in the postgame locker room.

Consider that the Niners (13-3) had just secured their first 13-win season since 1997 and wrapped up the NFC’s coveted No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. As kicker David Akers jogged into the locker room, however, he sensed the less-than-jovial vibe.

“Why is it so quiet, man?” he said to tight end Vernon Davis. “We’ve got a bye week coming!”

And no doubt the coaching staff will use that extra time to ensure recent history does not repeat itself.

The 49ers took a 34-13 lead on Anthony Dixon’s 1-yard run with 6:30 left and, with good reason, assumed they had delivered a knockout blow to a 2-13 team playing before large swaths of empty seats. A 21-point lead? The Niners’ defense hadn’t allowed that many points in 12 games this season.

As a result, the NFL’s lowest scoring offense, led by journeyman Kellen Clemens, kind of got untracked.

Five plays after Dixon’s touchdown, Clemens fired a 36-yard scoring pass to Brandon Lloyd, which was followed by a successful onside kick. Two plays later, after a 35-yard pass-interference penalty, Cadillac Williams barged in on a 1-yard touchdown run that cut the gap to 34-27.

Then, after the 49ers went three-and-out on their next series, the Rams took over at their 46-yard line with 3:37 left.

In less than three minutes, the blowout had, improbably become a barnburner.

“They just came out of nowhere,” Davis said.

Said Clemens, who signed with the Rams on Dec. 7: “We had them on the ropes.”

The Rams drove to the 49ers’ 33-yard line with 2:52 left, but inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman sacked Clemens for a 7-yard loss on 2nd-and-10. Clemens was also injured on the play, and backup Tom Brandstater, making his NFL debut, threw two straight incompletions to end the potentially game-tying drive.

After the 49ers ran out the remaining 2:37, quarterback Alex Smith reflected on a game that almost got away.

“I instantly went from potentially not going back into the game to the game’s on the line and we’ve got to close it out,” Smith said.

While Smith stayed in the game, running back Frank Gore didn’t play in the second half and defensive tackle Justin Smith was also a spectator until he re-entered on the Rams’ final offensive series.

It appeared as if 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh wanted to rest two of his best players with San Francisco holding a 20-7 halftime lead, but Harbaugh said that wasn’t the case. Harbaugh said Smith had an injury, but grabbed his helmet and put himself back in for St. Louis’ final drive. Harbaugh said Gore “had something that was bothering him,” but Gore said he wasn’t injured.

Whatever the case, Harbaugh wasn’t in a celebratory mood when he met with the media. When asked the importance of getting a bye week, he initially repeated the question incredulously.

“I can’t quantify it for you,” he said. “We needed it bad, we needed it very bad, we needed it really bad – you can plug in whatever you want.”

Harbaugh brightened a bit when discussing the 49ers’ bright spots, and there were plenty.

Playing without wide receivers Kyle Williams (concussion) and Ted Ginn (ankle) and tight end Delanie Walker (jaw), Alex Smith completed 21 of 31 passes for 219 yards, hit Michael Crabtree on a 28-yard catch-and-run touchdown and extended his streak of passing attempts without an interception to 160.

Davis had a season-high 118 receiving yards, Crabtree (nine catches, 92 yards) had the first two-touchdown game of his career – one coming on a pass from kicker David Akers on a fake field goal – and cornerback Tarell Brown had two interceptions, another career first.

Those performances helped earn San Francisco a first-round bye and a divisional playoff game at Candlestick Park, perks they weren’t ready to fully embrace after exhaling too early.

“It was a little subdued in here,” safety Donte Whitner said. “And that’s because we understand that we didn’t play as well as we should have played.”

Playoff picture

The 49ers earned the NFC’s No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. They will host the Saints, if victorious over the Lions, or the Giants-Falcons winner at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 14. A limited number of tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday at ticketmaster.com.